Amazon has made a more prosaic choice than the hype originally promised, naming New York City and the Washington, D.C. suburban county of Arlington, Virginia, as the two areas that will divvy up the 50,000 high-paying jobs the online retail giant is expected to bring.

The announcement Tuesday comes after 14 months of intense jockeying by more than 230 cities vying to take home the glittering prize of becoming the home of Amazon's second headquarters.